Calcinosis Cutis and Cushings (Peety has passed)
Wow, this is quite overwhelming. Last month I didn't even know what Cushings was, now I am immersed in so many details my head in spinning. My 11 almost 12 y/o18 lb Shi-Tzu was just diagnoised with Calcinosis Cutis and we are waiting to do the test for Cushings. His poor lil body is covered in calcium deposits and I feel like I am loosing this battle. He is so miserable and we have not started him on any treatments as yet. Complicated, but His first Vet, was trying to treat the outbreak of sores and started him on Predisone. Yikes!!!! We saw no improvements so he referred me to a dermatologist. She did biopsys and diagnoised him. We are now stepping down off of predisone.
I have been on-line every day trying to find an alternative to the chemicals suggested to treat Cushings. I have decided to do a natural approach and found a couple of places on-line that I am looking into. I am seeing my Vet tomorrow and plan to discuss this with him. There is even a ph # of a vet in Ga that I plan to call as he was highly encouraged by this natural approach. My lil guy is so wonderful, so sweet, so playful and so young for his age. This disease has taken so much out of him as me as well. I look at him and cry, because his once beautiful skin and coat(his skirt goes to the floor) are ravaged by this horrific disease.
I have been reading different posts, but have not seen one with the combination of Calcinosis Cutis with Cushings. Does anyone have any knowledge first hand and can offer any input.
My lil guy is depending on me to make the right decisions for his care. I need to get him on something asap so I hope to be able to make a decision in the next day or so.
Right now he has selective eating, drinks a ton of water, pees alot, wears an E-collar all the time now, because he scratches so much. I was giving him benadryl, but it didn't seem to help. I'm using neosporin on the really bad places. And I am using an aloe product on the ones not so bad. He's a good sport, he tolerates anything I need to do to him, but this just isn't right. No one should ever have to suffer like this. I Just want to see him happy again.
Anyone with any info on this combination of diseases?
Re: Calcinosis Cutis and Cushings
I am not familiar with that specific disease, but Cushing's reeks havoc with our furlets' immune systems. I wish you luck and would be curious as to what information you find out about natural treatments. I've been told that none are truly effective.
Good luck and I hope the little one feels better soon!
Re: Calcinosis Cutis and Cushings
Thanks for responding. I wish I were only dealing with Cushings. This just complicates it. Sure, I will let you know what I find out about natural treatments.
Re: Calcinosis Cutis and Cushings
Thank you, Daisy is newly diagnosed and the vet gave her twice the amount of Trilostane recommended for a dog her size. I've since stopped the meds and we have an appointment at Cornell on Friday.
Good luck!
Re: Calcinosis Cutis and Cushings
Hi and welcome to the forum.
We've had a number of members who have dealt with calcinosis cutis and it is a bear to get under control. Calcinosis cutis is virtually pathognomonic for Canine Cushing's syndrome. In other words, if a dog has calcinosis cutis, you pretty much know beyond a shadow of a doubt that the dog has cushing's. Excess cortisol screws with just about every metabolic function, including retarded calcium absorption resulting in high levels of calcium in the blood. Only a small number of dogs will be unfortunate enough to eventually develop calcinosis cutis. The primary objective when dealing with this is to get your dog on one of two only effective treatments, Lysodren (Mitotane) or Vetoryl (Trilostane). Unfortunately, there are no natural treatments that reduces cortisol and with your boy being in agony, the sooner you can get the cortisol levels down, the better his prognosis will be.
Do you know for sure that your dog had calcinosis cutis before the first vet put him on prednisone? If not, then he could have iatrogenic cushing's and the only treatment is to get him weaned off of prednisone. Was he experiencing symptoms associated with cushing's before the prednisone? Dermatologists are usually very experienced with cushing's and are usually very well versed on the two treatments I mentioned above. I would suggest you stick with the derm vet as she is much more knowledgable and experienced with this condition. A holistic vet may prescribe something to be given with Lysodren or Vetoryl to help boost the immune system but it would be adjunct treatment only.
One of our moderators, Angela, has first hand experience with calcinosis cutis and I'm sure she will be dropping in to share her knowledge. I do want to mention that Lysodren may be the most appropriate treatment as Vetoryl is known to increase some of the other adrenal hormones which can exacerbate calcinosis cutis. Dr. David Bruyette, an expert endocrine specialist whose first choice of treatment is Vetoryl, has said that he has not had a good response in resolution of calciniosis cutis with Vetoryl.
I'm sorry for the reasons that brought you here but I'm glad you found us. We've all had the head spins and I promise it will subside as you learn more about the disease and its treatment.
Glynda
Re: Calcinosis Cutis and Cushings
Hi and welcome.
Our Hungarian Vizsla, Sabre, had calcinosis cutis and was treated with Lysodren for two years until he passed away in 2010. As Glynda has pointed out ... calcinosis cutis is pretty much a diagnosis for cushings.
I can understand your want to "treat naturally" but the only way to get the calcinosis cutis "under control" is to bring his cortisol levels down. To do this your dog requires treatment with either Lysodren or Vetoryl. My personal opinion is that Lysodren is the better treatment option for a dog with calcinosis cutis for the reasons that Glynda has pointed out. Having said this there are some members who have used Vetoryl.
Things that I can suggest are .... medicated shampoos (didn't really work for us - it just inflamed the calcinosis cutis), oatmeal shampoos (didn't have a lot of impact), betadine on areas that are not open to help dry up areas, scuffing off areas with epiotic (not sure whether this is available in US but is actually an ear cleaner), antihistamine (hit and miss and is dependent on the dog), additives - evening primrose oil, flaxseed oil and fish oil. We always tried to be proactive with antibiotics so at the first sign of infection the vet prescribed them. We also used T-Shirts or jackets to keep everything covered so he wouldn't try and get at it too much. For us it was a matter of trying to "manage" the calcinosis cutis and try and stop infection whilst his cortisol levels came down. It does get worse before it gets better and it does take some time. From recollection it took 4 to 6 months before his hair grew back and the calcinosis cutis was "just there". He always had plates of calcium deposits on his body.
You can do a search for "calcinosis cutis" from the menu along the top to find others who have dealt with it.
If you have any further queries ... please ask away.
Angela
Re: Calcinosis Cutis and Cushings
Hello and welcome to the forum.
Unfortunately calcinosis cutis is a real bugger to try to get under control. Once it develops from what we have seen on the forum here, the only thing that gives a chance of getting under control is getting the cortisol levels down. All the natural options seem to solely treat the symptoms of cushings without doing anything to lower the cortisol itself. The only way to tell if the cortisol is going up or down is via the ACTH test.
It's an awful situation to deal with as you really don't want it to get worse. The worse it gets the harder to ever get rid of it.
Feel free to ask any questions you might have as we have had members dealing with it on here.
Sharlene and Molly Muffin
Re: Calcinosis Cutis and Cushings
Hi Petey's fur mom :) My name is Jackie and my French Bulldog, Ugga, has Calcinosis Cutis. We treat with Vetoryl because Ugga has other health issues and takes multiple medications. Honestly, the Vetoryl hasn't done much as far as the CC is concerned. Lysodren is not an option for us so we take Ugga for acupuncture. We're having a lot of success with it. He still takes his Vetoryl as it helped alleviate his other symptoms and it keeps his Cortisol levels down but the acupuncture has been a great compliment to it. It's worth looking into, in my opinion. When it's been really bad we've used Chlorexidine Shampoos, Humilac sprays, and Betadine. He also takes 1200mg fish oil every day. Also, anytime he started to scratch himself open, we got him on an antibiotic right away. Good luck! Hugs to you and Petey :)
Re: Calcinosis Cutis and Cushings
Hi Jackiev, thanks for your input. I'm sorry we are dealing with this same horrific disease on our lil ones. I'm kinda at a point where I am not encouraged by much of anything. I really wanted to find a natural remedy, but so far I have not found anything and I am at a loss and he continues to get worse, So...... My dermatologist has put him on DMSO. Not happy after reading the scarey research I did. But I was assured this is medical grade and it is "somewhat "safe". I started the treatments very carefully and will monitor him. She told me I should start to see the calcium deposits on his skin be absorbed into the skin and over time we should get it under control.
We can't do the Cushing's test for another 3-4 weeks as he will be taking his last predisone on Fri. and we need his system to be clear before more bloodwork can be done. Nonetheless I will do whatever I can for him. I just want his fun sweet personality back. I just hope I am making the right decisions. He is wearing a cone all the time now, except for meals and walks and he is wearing a t-shirt to curb scratching. His hair is falling out more every day and it makes me cry to see him like this. I bathe him in oatmeal and teatree oil and I use an aloe vera product that has Nopal cactus and Flax seed extract. It seems to calm it down. Sometimes he sleeps all night, sometimes he cries and then of course I do the same. But I try to stay close to him so he feels secure and loved. And I know he does. I just wish I could do more for him. Based on my readings, we probably will be dealing with this for a while.
Have you seen any noticible improvement in the skin since you started the meds? How long have you been on them?
Good luck to you and let me know how you're doing.
Re: Calcinosis Cutis and Cushings
Hi Peety's fur-mom: My nearly 12 year old mini dachshund has been treated with Vetoryl for six months. It has seemed to help somewhat, but he has developed calcium deposits on his tail since starting the Vetoryl. One of my vets has prescribed the DMSO, but I am like you I am afraid to use it since he only has about 4 calcium deposits on his tail and he has not even noticed them. I know DMSO is an old medicine and has been used for many years on horses and some people seem to have good results with it. Some doctors even use it on people for different things. Glenda is right the Lysodren is much more helpful in the control of the calcinosis. I would have to keep CoCo off the Vetoryl for 30 days to be able to start the Lysodren and I hesitate to do that since I believe he would develop more problems not being treated for 30 days. The people on this forum know so much about Cushings and the treatments. If I had known that CoCo would develop the calcinosis I would have started him on the Lysodren rather than the Vetoryl. Lots of people have had good results with both medications and their fur babies have lived many years. Good luck to you and your fur baby. Hugs, JoAnne